Upwork gave my client a refund while I was out of town

[daydreamdesigns]

So, I was out of town for a week with no reception. The client knew I was leaving town. When I came back to reception I saw that Upwork had automatically given the client a refund for some hours worked since I did not respond in the required time frame.

I had put on the OOO, indicating that I was not available. It seems kinda messed up that Upwork would allow an automatic refund if I am not there to defend myself. 

I'm also assuming that it has affected my JSS since I was at 94% now I'm at 86% and lost my top rated status.

Is there another setting I should have chosen to prevent this? thanks

[prestonhunter]

Upwork followed their policies.
The client played by the rules.

The client may be a horrible client. The client's desire for a refund may be unjust. Nevertheless, the client was following Upwork's rules.

What do you want to happen next?

re: "Is there another setting I should have chosen to prevent this?"

Is there an alternative setting that makes you immune from client refund requests, or extends the amount of time you have to respond?

No.

re: "It seems kinda messed up that Upwork would allow an automatic refund if I am not there to defend myself."

If a client hires me to do a fixed-price contract, I use the "Submit Work" button to start a countdown clock. After 14 days, the money is AUTOMATICALLY released to me. If the client is out of town during that time, with no reception, then I still get the money. And if I log time on an hourly contract when a client has no computer access and can't review my work diaries or dispute time, I still get paid automatically.

I'm sorry if any of this seems unfair. But it goes both ways.

[daydreamdesigns]

Fair enough. I'm not trying to get the refund back or anything, just seeing if I was supposed to have a different setting. It was my first time doing an OOO through upwork.

Also, I noticed in upwork's email they basically said because I did not put memos, that I was not protected. So that's totally my fault because I didn't know about that. I thought memos were optional and that the screen capture would suffice because it literally shows what you are doing.

If I had filled out the memo portion, what would have happened? Would they have gone ahead with the refund since I was not able to respond?

(and, yes! they were a terrible client! I'm thrilled to be rid of them)

[prestonhunter]

re: "If I had filled out the memo portion, what would have happened? Would they have gone ahead with the refund since I was not able to respond?"

Memos are definitely not optional if you want Upwork Payment Protection.

As far as I know, if you had included descriptive memos AND followed the other rules (screenshots showing work on the project and not watching YouTube or playing video games; adequate mouse/keyboard activity; verified payment method), then you would have been paid for those hours.

[daydreamdesigns]

Ok lesson learned. Now I will fill out the memo portion every time!How detailed should the memos be? For example, if the screenshot is of me checking my client's email would "reviewing client email" be sufficient?

[prestonhunter]

re: "How detailed should the memos be?"

Well, the number of characters is pretty limited. A sentence should suffice.